Malkin playing at WJC

[Daily Special]

he is the #1 center on the team, he leads the league in goals and points, and was voted best player in the rsl by the coaches. in the rsl he's been better than ovechkin. we'll see how it translates to the nhl, but it's ridiculous to say it won't. and yes i've downloaded a couple of full metallurg games. from what i've seen he's very much like sergei fedorov.

If you are going to quote me, don't paraphrase or intentionally misquote. I wrote that his goal scoring won't translate, not his overall game. I also said he'll likely be a 30 goal scorer, but no better. The guy is a phenomenal skater with accurate passing, and generally all marquee instincts, but he doesn't have Ovechkin moves or a Bure wrist shot.

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

If you are going to quote me, don't paraphrase or intentionally misquote. I wrote that his goal scoring won't translate, not his overall game. I also said he'll likely be a 30 goal scorer, but no better. The guy is a phenomenal skater with accurate passing, and generally all marquee instincts, but he doesn't have Ovechkin moves or a Bure wrist shot.

fair enough. forsberg's never scored over 30 goals, and if malkin has a forsberg type career, i'd be pretty happy. i think you underestimate his stickhandling though. he's a very slick player.

 

[Daily Special]

fair enough. forsberg's never scored over 30 goals, and if malkin has a forsberg type career, i'd be pretty happy. i think you underestimate his stickhandling though. he's a very slick player.

Not the stickhandling of a Forsberg in that he can undress guys to get open. He has a signature lateral mini-dangle that I've seen only a handful of times, but really just not those 1 on 1 skills of a Forsberg/Ovechkin/Jagr. He'll be a star in the NHL for different reasons IMO.

*I should add here - "Flashy" and "Natural Goal Scorer" aren't two things that come to mind when I think of Malkin. The things that will make him a star are qualities you want in the prototypical "New NHL" center though. It's his "all around game" driven by instinct and speed that impresses me.

 

[helicecopter]

Malkin isn't Ovechkin. Have you seen him play? Malkin flubs breakaways all of the time. The goals he does get are primarily gimmes

The guy is a phenomenal skater with accurate passing, and generally all marquee instincts, but he doesn't have Ovechkin moves or a Bure wrist shot.

FYI, Bure was easily the one with the best moves (and the better skater) while Ovechkin is the one with the better wrist shot.

 

[CSKA]

Well I gotta tell ya, in the seven games I watched, he scored two gimmes, and flubbed on about 6 breakaways, and a few point blank one timer attempts. I was "wowed" by his passes and skating, never by his goals..or lack thereof.

I agree with you on the breakaways ! Evgeny needs def. to work on hes finish skills no doubt ! BUT look : Malkin will never make such moves like Ovechkin or Crosby BUT he creates so much scoring chances its just insane and uses hes body so damn well and thats why i think he will be better than the other two superb rookies in the end.

 

[helicecopter]

Not the stickhandling of a Forsberg in that he can undress guys to get open. He has a signature lateral mini-dangle that I've seen only a handful of times, but really just not those 1 on 1 skills of a Forsberg/Ovechkin/Jagr. He'll be a star in the NHL for different reasons IMO.

*I should add here - "Flashy" and "Natural Goal Scorer" aren't two things that come to mind when I think of Malkin. The things that will make him a star are qualities you want in the prototypical "New NHL" center though. It's his "all around game" driven by instinct and speed that impresses me.

You are obviously right when you say Malkin is not as much of a scorer as Ovechkin. Alex has a better shot, is more of a natural scorer and is a better finisher (Malkin needs to improve in that department, but he has the time to do it) but i think you are underrating Malkin stickhandling and one on one skills. He is not as good as Forsberg in going around defender but he is better than him in jumping beyond them when given the right opportunity.

The guy skates and passes well, has good instincts, but shoots poorly.

Two understatements followed by one overstatement here (Malkin has a good, low slapshot)

 

[#66]

You are obviously right when you say Malkin is not as much of a scorer as Ovechkin. Alex has a better shot, is more of a natural scorer and is a better finisher (Malkin needs to improve in that department, but he has the time to do it) but i think you are underrating Malkin stickhandling and one on one skills. He is not as good as Forsberg in going around defender but he is better than him in jumping beyond them when given the right opportunity.

Two understatements followed by one overstatement here (Malkin has a good, low slapshot)

Agreed. I've seen Malkin beat goalies with a very hard slapshot to the upper corners a number of times. I've also seen him use a very good wrist shot to beat goalies from the middle of the circles. I think its fair to say that his shots are very good but his release needs some work. Malkins stickhandling is also pretty awesome but I think it gets under-rated because he uses his reach more than making moves. IMO thats still stickhandling and very effective. Another thing that I like about his stickhandling is that he can carry the puck in front of him as well as the side. Not many players are very good at that let alone do it with the grace that Malkin does.

 

[RW8]

nvm

 

[wildone26*]

I love watching Malkin play. He is so skilled with the puck, he uses his size well to push players off the puck, or out of position, he is good at keeping puck possesion, and he has an awesome wrist shot, and slap shot to score with. At the World juniors last year he scored vs the U.S from a long ways out, he was outside the blueline a couple of times! If he really is better than Ovechkin now, as some insiders have hinted, that is a scary though.

 

[Zine]

I love watching Malkin play. He is so skilled with the puck, he uses his size well to push players off the puck, or out of position, he is good at keeping puck possesion, and he has an awesome wrist shot, and slap shot to score with. At the World juniors last year he scored vs the U.S from a long ways out, he was outside the blueline a couple of times! If he really is better than Ovechkin now, as some insiders have hinted, that is a scary though.

I don't think he's as good as Ovechkin or Crosby at the moment, but that could be do to a different development curve. Malkin is a bigger guy; the type of player that takes a quite a while to fully develop (think Spezza, Thornton, etc.) It's this aspect that has the scouts drooling. The kid is dominating the second best league in the world and hasn't even grown into his frame yet.